Former French international Silvestre gave an interview to French Football News , reflecting on the French team's performance in the World Cup and discussing Didier Deschamps and Zinedine Zidane.
Looking back at France's fourth-place finish in the World Cup, how do you view their performance? Was it generally positive or negative, given that they didn't win the title?
Yes, we needed to beat Spain, but we didn't. When you enter a tournament with the goal of winning, if you don't win, you can't say the result is positive, so it's probably negative overall.
But there are also some positive things to learn from. We played a few good games, some players performed exceptionally well both individually and as a team, and sometimes the teamwork was excellent, although not consistently so. So there are definitely some positive factors, and you could say Deschamps laid a very good foundation for Zidane's work. So it's an unfinished business, but there are positive aspects that can be carried on.
Dugarry said that with only one trophy won in seven major tournaments, he considers Deschamps' coaching a failure. I think that's a bit harsh...
Yes, that's harsh. Think back to the last Qatar World Cup; we only lost in a penalty shootout, which required luck, and we played better than Argentina in the second half, coming very close to winning our third star. Even in this tournament, if we could beat Spain, I think we could have beaten Argentina. So, yes, I think that assessment is harsh and unfair to Deschamps and his coaching, because we came so close to the title in Qatar.
Zinedine Zidane has been appointed as the new head coach of the French national team. You know him as a former national team teammate. Is he the kind of person who can change everything, or will he retain the personnel and system from the Deschamps era, maintaining a certain continuity?
No, I think we can expect some continuity, maintaining the work already done and the players selected. I think there will be some changes in the style of play, and we'll see the first signs in the next international break, seeing what the Zidane era will be like. I think we're all looking forward to it.
